Thread tensioning mechanism



March 30, 19.43.

K. E. WILHELM THREAD TENSIONING MECHANISM Filed June 27, 1941 s Sheets-Sheet 1 1 ATTORNEY March 30, 1943. K, E. WIII.HIELM 2,315,306

THREAD TENSIONING MECHANISM I Filed June 1941 I jShets-Sheet 2 47 \i glj l s i "5 f 1/0 '57 H 2 Y 7/ v 5 f4 7/ 9/ 7 ,6

'INVENT'OR.

BY M g ATTORNEY,

March so, 1 943.

THREAD TENS IONING MECHANISM Filed June 27, 1941 I :s Sheet-Sheet s INV ENT OR. I AV/ff 5. aw/11 BY M2 ATTDR Y K. a WILHELM V 2,315,306

Patented Mar. 30, 1943 'i OFFICE 2,315,366 THREAD TENSIONING. MECHANISM Kurt E. Wilhelm, Providence, R. 1., assignor to United States Rubber N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 2'7, 1941, Serial No. 395L990 Claims.

This invention relates to automatically controlled thread tensioning mechanism designed more particularly for use upon golf ball winding machines to control the tension of a rubber strand as it is wound on the ball core.

Golf balls as usually constructed consist of a core about which a rubber tape or thread is wound under considerable tension to form the ball body that is later provided with a protecting cover.

The better grade golf balls are Wound under high tension, and after they are wound are subjected to an exacting compression test and are graded upon the basis of such test.

This compression test has been relied upon heretofore to determine whether or not a ball has been wound under the proper thread tension, but the trouble with such a test from the manufacturing standpoint is that it shows the compression properties of the wound ball and not the actual tension under which the thread should be wound to give the ball the desired properties.

Various devices have been provided heretofore to tension the rubber strand as it is wound upon the ball core, but the method employed heretofore for adjusting such tensioning devicesv has been to remove the ball from thewinding machine to test its compression properties, and then adjust the thread tensioning device the amount the operator thinks will serve to impart the desired hardness to the ball.

Even if the operator by using the method just described succeeds in getting the right thread tension, this particular adjustment of the thread tension device may not continue to produce the proper tension upon the thread for any substantial length of time, sincevariations inv the thread tension are caused by changes in the initial tension of the thread, by changes in the speed of winding as the size of the ball increases, by changes in the brake friction, and possibly by other causes.

In the Howe and Wilhelm application, Serial No. 397,020, filed June '7, 1941, there, is shown, described and claimed mechanism for tensioning the thread and for accurately indicating the actual tension of the same as it is wound on the ball core. By employing the mechanism of said application the tension of the thread as it is wound on the ball can'be maintained substantially constant, provided the winding machine operator closely watches the readings of the tension indicating scale and manually adjusts the thread tensioning apparatus when needed to hold the tension at a chosen value.

Company, New York,

It is found, however, in practice that in order to keep the tension of the rubber thread at a chosen value as it is wound on the ball core the operator has to give the tension indicating scale close attention and frequently adjust the thread tension apparatus. This places an exacting re quirement upon the operator and reduces the number of golf ball winding machines she is able to attend to produce thereupon uniformly hard golf balls.

Having in mind the foregoing, the present invention contemplates mechanism whereby the tension at which the rubber thread is wound on the ball core is utilized to control automatically the braking force employed to tension this thread, and thereby keep the tension constant.

To this end the thread tensioning device and brake for the same are supported for movement towards and from the ball winding position in response to variations in the thread tension, and this movement is utilized to increase or decrease the brake action to thereby maintain the thread tension at a chosen value. This broad concept of the present invention may be given many embodiments.

The advantages of the construction of the present invention over the tension devices used heretofore are that the present construction automatically keeps the thread tension at the same value no matter how much the initial tension changes, or how much variation in the braking action occurs due to changes in the speed of drawing the thread forward, or other conditions. Furthermore, no part of the operators time is taken up to make adjustments of the winding tension, and the uniformity of the thread tension in the finished golf ball is independent of the winding machine operators attention or lack of attention.

The mechanism of the present invention for automatically adjusting the brake action so as to maintain the thread winding tension at a constant value, is preferably used in conjunction with the tension indicator or measuring device of the above mentioned application, since it is desirable to use such indicating device at the start of the winding operation to thereby adjust the parts so that the automatic mechanism will exert upon the thread the desired amount of tension.

The above and other features of the invention and novel arrangements of parts will be hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating one good practical form thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one well known type of golf ball winding machine having the present invention associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation with parts in section of the casing containing the automatic thread tensioning mechanism to be described;

Fig. 4 on a larger scale is a view showing the interior of the casing of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through a worm gear and associated parts to be described.

The present invention may be employed to-control automatically the tension of a thread, strand or filament that is being wound upon a core, spool or other form of take-up means, but is particularly well adapted for use in controlling the ten sion of rubber or elastic strands which are more sensitive to tension variations than the ordinary textile strand. The mechanism for carrying out the present invention may be given various embodiments and as above stated has. been developed more particularly for use upon golf ball winding machines. The rubber strand wound upon a golf ball core to form the ball body may comprise a wide tape, or a tape or thread the Width of which does not greatly exceed its thickness. Such strands are herein referred to as threads.

The thread tensioning mechanism illustrated in the drawings may be used upon various types of golf ball winding machines and as shown is applied to a golf ball winding machine of the general type disclosed in the Cobb Patent No. 1,270,099. The winding machine shown comprises a metal casing l mounted upon a supporting frame formed of the horizontally extendin rails H which are supported at the desired distance from the floor are connected by the bars l3.

The casing II] has the housings I4 and l which are spaced apart to provide therebetween the opening in which rotating heads l6 and I! operate. These heads are supported and rotated by axially aligned shafts l8 that are mounted for limited longitudinal movement to facilitate the introduction of a ball core between the head and also an increase in the size of the ball as the thread is wound thereupon. The heads I6 and I1 rotate at horizontally extending thread in a plane extending through the center of the ball at right angles to this axis. ball is actually supported vided upon each head and they are periodically rotated upon the heads to turn the ball core to distribute the windings uniformly over its surface, as more fully set forth in said patent.

In the construction shown the rubber thread T is supplied to the golf ball core or body B under the desired tension from a position in front of the windin machine as will be apparent from Fig. 2. This thread is led upwardly from a. supply spool 29 to a thread tensioning wheel or drum 2| to pass partly or entirely around this wheel and then horizontally to the ball B. The thread is usually made to extend around the tension wheel 2| for slightly more than one revolution. This wheel is preferably provided with a slightly tapered thread-receiving surface, as shown, so that if the thread passes around the wheel for more than one revolution the adjacent The by the discs l9 proby the uprights l2 which the ball supporting and coils will not contact each other. This wheel 2| is provided with a brake wheel and cooperating brake strap to be described.

In accordance with the present invention the thread tensioning wheel 2! is mounted for movement towards and from the ball winding position in response to variations in the tension of the length of thread T extending from this wheel to the ball B. To this end, in the construction shown, the wheel 2| is rigidly secured to a shaft 22 which is journaled in a casing 23. This casing is bolted to the upper end of a, swinging lever 24. The lower end of this lever is secured to the shaft 25 that is rockingly mounted in the brackets 26 supported by the lower bars l3 of the main frame. The lever 24 has extendin laterally therefrom a relatively long arm 27 and the outer end of this arm is connected by a vertically extending rod 28 to the sliding bar 29 of the scale 30 which scale is suspended from the gallows 3| by the threaded bolt 32 provided with a wing nut 33 and locking nut 33.

The arrangement is such that the tension which the wheel 2! exerts upon the thread T being wound upon the ball urges the lever 24 towards the ball winding position, and the movement of the lever in this direction is yieldingly resisted by the upward pull of the spring scale 38 through the connections 21 and 28, with the result that the tension upon the thread being delivered to the ball will be accurately measured by the mechanism described and will be shown on the scale 38 by the reading of the pointer 34.

The thread supply spool 20 in the construction shown is rotatably supported by a shaft 35 extending laterally from the lever 24 and it is important that the spool be mounted on the lever 24, as shown, or be otherwise supported so that the force required to unwind the thread T from the spool will not affect the swinging movement of the lever 24 under the pull of the horizontally extending portion of this thread. The spool 20 may have a friction brake or other well known type of means associated therewith to keep the spool from overrunning.

The mechanism so rately measure and indicate the tension of the thread being wound upon the ball core, and to this extent resembles the construction in the above mentioned application wherein means is provided for manually adjusting the braking action from time to time in accordance with the scale reading to thereby secure the desired tension.

The present invention, as above stated, contemplates automatically controlled means for adjusting this braking action to thereby maintain the thread tension at a chosen value, and one good practical construction for accomplishing this will now be described.

The swinging lever 24 has mounted thereupon a small electric motor 36 provided with the belt pulley 3! adapted to drive the belt 33 which rotates the pulleys 39, 40 and 4| rotatably mounted 23. The arrangement is such the pulleys 39 and 4%] are rotated in opposite directions by the belt 38 and the pulley 4| is simply an idler for the belt.

The shaft 22 which rotatably supports the thread tensioning wheel 25 is journaled in a boss 42 provided upon the casing 23 and has rigidly secured to its inner end the brake wheel 43 which is acted upon by the brake strap 44. This strap has one end yieldingly secured to a coiled spring 45 that is connected to a wall of the casing 23 by a pin 46, and the opposite end of this strap somedistance beyond the 55 with one or the other a threaded bolt 41 which is slida sleeve 48 projecting inwardly 23. This bolt is provided with a key which prevents it from The bolt '41 projects outer face of the-casing 23 to receive the worm gear 49 which is internally threaded to fit this bolt. The arrangement is such that rotation of the worm gear 49 in one direction will tighten the brake strap 44 about its wheel 43 and rotation of this gear in the opposite direction will slack off this strap.

This worm gear meshes with a worm pinion 59 which is rigidly secured to the horizontally extending shaft which shaft is journaled in the spaced brackets 52 secured to the outer face of the casing 23, and this shaft has rigidly secured thereto the pulley 53 adapted to rotate the shaft 5i to thereby turn the Worm gear 49 in one direction r the other.

The shaft 5| has journaled at its opposite ends the lever frame 54 formed of the spaced downwardly extending straps 54 and'54" which extend into the casing 23 through slotted opening provided therein as will be apparent from Fig. 3. This lever frame 54 serves to swingingly support near its lower end the disc or roller 55 which is rotatably supported between the spaced straps 54 and 54" and is provided with the belt pulley 55. The arrangement is such that rotation of the roller 55 serves to rotate the above mentioned shaft 5| by means of a belt 51 engaging the pulleys 53 and 56.

The above mentioned belt driven pulley 33 is rotatably supported in the casing 23 by the shaft 58 and is provided with the rubber roll 59, and the pulley is rotatably supported in the casing by a shaft Bil and is provided with. a rubber roll 6|.

The arrangement is such that the lever frame 54 serves to swingingly support its roller 55 between the rubber rolls 55 and B! so that the rock ing movement of this lever will engage the roller of these power driven rubber rolls to thereby operate the belt 51 to turn the worm gear in one direction or the other.

The lever frame 54 has secured to the lower end of the straps 54' and 54 a yoke 52 to which is secured one end of the coil spring 63 and the other end of this spring is secured to the casing 23 so that this spring continuously urges the lever frame 54 in a direction to engage its roller with the rubber roll 59 to thereby turn the worm is secured to ably mounted in from the casing slot and a cooperating rotating in the sleeve 48.

gear 49 in a direction to tighten the brake strap 44. Movement of the lever frame 54 in the opposite direction to engage the roll'55 with the rubber roll 5! is secured by means of a solenoid 64 having the movable core 55 which is yieldingly connected by the blade spring 55 to the yoke 62; The arrangement is such that when the solenoid 54 is excited the core 65 will be drawn into the solenoid to thereby engage the roller 55 with the roll 6! against the opposition of the spring 53.

As above stated the rocking movement of the lever 24 in response to variations in the tension of the thread T being wound upon the ball core is utilized to automatically adjust the brake tension, and to this end in the construction shown the lever 24 has mounted thereupon a microswitch 61 having projecting operating arm 58 adapted to engage an adjustable stop 59 upon the machine frame. This micro-switch 61 is connected by conductor wires, not shown, to the solenoid 64 and serves therefrom a pivoted wheel 2 l pounds. ning, and should .10 is moved up and out of the way,

to control the operating current, such as volts A. C. to the solenoid. The arrangement is such that when the tension of the thread T is too great, the switch operating lever 68 will engage the stop 69 and be operated thereby to supply the exciting current to the solenoid 64 to thereby engage the roller 55 with the roll BI and rotate the worm gear 49 in a direction to slack off the belt strap 44. This will decrease the tension of the thread T and permit the lever 24 to swing away from the ball B under the upward pull of the scale 30 upon the arm 21. A slight movement of the lever 24 in this direction will serve to open the switch 61 whereupon the lever frame 54 will swing in the opposite direction under the pull of the spring 63 to engage the roller 55 with the roll 59 and thereby turn the Worm gear 49 in the opposite direction to tighten the brake strap.

The construction is such that during the ball winding operation the worm gear 49 may be almost continuously turned in first one direction and then the othe to maintain at all times the proper braking force upon the thread tensioning As a result of this construction the tension of the thread B will be accurately controlled, and high quality golf balls wound with substantially uniform tension throughout can be produced.

Since the lever 24 in the construction shown supports considerable weight, the force of gravity acting upon this lever will materially influence the operation of the present tensioning device unless provision is made to offset this force. To this end in the construction shown a stop I0 is pivotally mounted to the front of the machine frame so that it may be swung into its dotted line position to hold the lever 24 spaced a definite distance from the winding machine during the operation of adjusting the scale 30. After this adjustment is made the stop is swung upwardly to its inoperative position in which it is shown in full lines. A second stop or bracket H is also preferably provided to limit the range of movement of the lever 24.

In preparing the mechanism of the present invention for operation, the apparatus is kept unthreaded, and the wing nut 33 is turned so as to raise or lower the scale 30 until the spring scale exerts just enough upward pull on the lever system to cause the lever 24 to barely touch the lowered stop 10. This is the zero'reading and the pointer 34 should now be adjusted to the zero point upon the scale. The actual pull exerted by the scale when it reads zero is about 10 This adjustment is made at the beginbe checked once a week thereafter.

In order to adjust the machine to wind at a desired tension, the operator moves the stop 15 down to its dotted line position and holds the lever 24 against this stop. He then turns the wing nut 33, thus raising or lowering the scale 30, until the scale pointer points to the desired tension. The wing nut is then looked, the stop and the machine is ready for operation. Micro-switch 6! will operate as described above to keep the lever 24 in approximately the position in which it was when it was pushed against the lowered stop. As only the desired thread tension will keep lever 24 in that position, the mechanism will act so as to automatically maintain the desired thread tension. during winding.

If, for any reason the winding operation should stop, the small motor 36 that drives the tension regulating mechanism is also stopped. This prevents a tightening up of the brake belt tension when there is no winding.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent 1s 1. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, adjustable mechanism for tensioning the thread as it is wound on the core and positioned so that the thread passes in a direct straight line from said mechanism to the core, a movable support for supporting said mechanism for movement by the thread in response to variations in the tension at which it is wound on the core and arranged so that such movement is not affected by the tension of the thread as it arrives at such mechanism, means for yieldingly opposing the movement of said support, and means controlled by the support movement for automatically varying the retarding action of said tensioning mechanism to hold the winding tension at a predetermined value.

2. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, adjustable mechanism for tensioning the thread as it is wound on the core and positioned so that the thread passes in a direct straight line from said mechanism to the core, a movable support for supporting said mechanism for movement by the thread in response to variations in the tension at which it is wound on the core and arranged so that such movement is not afiected by the tension of the thread as it arrives at such mechanism, means for yieldingly opposing the support movement, and mechanism controlled by the support movement for accurately measuring the thread tension and for automatically varying the retarding action ofsaid tensioning mechanism to hold the winding tension at a predetermined value.

3. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, a thread tensioning wheel for tensioning the thread as it is wound on the core and provided with a brake, a support for supporting the wheel and brake for movement by the thread in response to variations in the tension at which it is wound on the core, means for yieldingly opposing the movement of said support, and means controlled by the support movement for automatically varying the action of said brake to tension the thread.

4. A golf ball winding mach ine comprising core-rotating means, a thread tensioning Wheel for tensioning the thread as it is wound on-the core and provided with a brake, a support for supporting the wheel and brake for movement by the thread in response to variations in the tension at which it is wound on the core, a source of thread supply mounted so that the movement of said support is not affected by the tension of the thread supplied thereto, means for yieldingly opposing the movement of said support, and means controlled by the support movement for automatically varying the action of said brake to tension the thread.

5. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, adjustable mechanism for tensioning the thread as it is wound on the core, a movable support for supporting said mechanism for movement by the thread in response to variations in the tension at which it is wound on the core, a thread supply package mounted on said movable support so that it remains a fixed distance from said mechanism as v,

the latter moves, spring means opposing the pull of the thread on said support by a force directly proportional to the actual thread tension at the ball, and means controlled by the support movement for automatically varying the retarding action of said tensioning mechanism.

6. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, adjustable mechanism for tensioning the thread as it is wound on the core, a movable support for supporting said mechanism for movement by the thread in response to variations in the tension at which it is wound on the core, a thread supply package mounted so that it remains a fixed distance from said mechanism as the latter moves, whereby the force required to advance the thread to the tensioning mechanism does not affect the movement of the support, means for yi'eldingly opposing the pull on the support by the thread whereby one balances the other, and mechanism controlled by the movement of said support for automatically regulating the tensioning action of said thread tensioning mechanism.

'7. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, thread tensioning mechanism positioned in spaced relation to said means, a movable support therefor mounted for limited movement relative to the ball Winding position in response to variations in the tension of the thread being wound, a thread supply package mounted so that it remains a fixed distance from said mechanism as the latter moves, whereby the force required to advance the thread to the tensioning mechanism does not affect the movement of the support, means for yieldingly opposing the pull on the support by the thread whereby one balances the other, and mechanism controlled by the support movement for automatically maintaining the tension of the thread being wound at a selected value.

8. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, thread tensioning mechanism positioned in spaced relation to said means so that the thread passes in a direct straight line from said mechanism wound, means for yieldingly opposing the pull on the support by the thread whereby the support is moved toward the ball solely by the tension of the thread along said straight line, and mecha nism under the control of said movement for exerted on the thread as it is wound on the core and supported for movement bodily relative to the core-rotating means in response to variations in the tension of the tarding the rotation of the drum to thereby tension the thread, and mechanism controlled by the movement of the drum relative to the corewinding position for automatically varying the brake action to thereby regulate the thread tension at the ball.

11. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, a thread tensioning drum adapted to be rotated by the pull exerted on the thread as it is wound on the core and supported for movement bodily relative to the core-rotating means in response to variations in the tension of the thread being wound, a brake for retarding the rotation of the drum to thereby tension the thread, reversible power rotated means for increasing and decreasing the brake action on said drum, and 'means controlled by the movement of the drum relative to the core winding position for automatically reversing the direction of rotation of the power actuated means.

12. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, a thread tensioning drum adapted to be rotated by the pull exerted on the thread as it is wound on the core and supported for movement bodily towards and from the corerotating means in response to variations in the thread tension, a brake strap for retarding the rotation of the drum and provided with a bolt for adjusting its tension, a nut for said bolt, reversible power operated means for turning the nut in the take-up and let-ofi directions, and means controlled by the movement bodily of said drum and operable upon said reversible means to rotate said nut in either direction.

13. A thread winding machine comprising means for rotating a thread support to wind thread thereupon, thread tensioning mechanism supported for movement relative to the winding position in response to variations in the tension of the thread being wound and arranged so that the thread passes in a direct straight line from said mechanism to the winding position, a source of thread supply mounted so that the movement of said mechanism is controlled by the tension of the thread along said straight line and is not affected by the tension of the thread supplied to said mechanism, spring means opposing the movement of said mechanism, and means controlled by said movement for automatically varying the retarding action of said tensioning mechanism to hold the winding tension at a selected value.

14. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, mechanism for engaging and tensioning the thread as it is wound on the core, a swinging support having said mechanism mounted thereon for movement bodily by the thread as the tension at which it is wound on the core varies, a source of thread supply also mounted on said support so that the tension of the thread extending from said source of supply to said mechanism will not affect the movement of the latter, means for yieldingly opposing the movement of the support, and means controlled by the support movement for automatically Varying the retarding action of said tensioning mechanism to hold the winding tension at a predetermined value.

15. A golf ball winding machine comprising core-rotating means, mechanism for engaging and tensioning the thread as it is wound on the core and positioned so that the thread passes in a direct straight line from said mechanism to the core, means for supporting said mechanism for movement toward and from the core as the thread tension varies and arranged so that such movement is controlled by the tension of the thread along said straight line independent of the tension of the thread as it arrives at such mechanism, means for yieldingly opposing said movement towards the core, and mechanism controlled by said movement for automatically varying the retarding action of said tensioning mechanism.

KURT E. WILHELM. 

